At yesterday's Scrubs delivery rally, health care workers described how they see our broken health care system fail patients every day. Their heart breaking stories, coupled with strong support statements from Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and Sen. Harry Reid, are just the latest in an endless series of reasons why we must pass real health care reform soon.

If you missed the rally, be sure to check out our video to see what happened:

Did you attend a Labor Day event, march or rally with SEIU members or any of our coalition partners? We want to know!

Use this form to upload your photos, audio and video capturing your Labor Day experience--we'd love to showcase your footage on the SEIU Blog in the coming days.

Here's a photo from a great healthcare event that was held yesterday in Los Angeles:

Dr. Paul Song and his spouse, TV journalist Lisa Ling, pose with members of SEIU ULTCW and their families during the Healthy Works Fair + Film + Action in downtown Los Angeles on Labor Day.

« Submit your photos, audio or video from Labor Day here.

Visit SEIU's Labor Day 2009 page for facts on labor unions and health reform.

President Obama recently unveiled his budget for getting America back on track - and it includes a significant downpayment toward fixing health care. As usual, opponents of reform are on the attack, attempting to turn our national discussion on health care into an uninformed, schoolyard brawl. Just check out Rep. Zach Wamp's recent appearance on MSNBC:

And yes, he really just did say "Obama wants to give health care to everybody" - as if providing affordable, quality care to everyone is a gross perversion of American values.

We cannot let Rep. Wamp and others drive this debate. That's why we're mobilizing to write Congress in support of the president's $634 billion investment in health care - it's time Congress step up with the same commitment toward reform. Let's bring our voices to the table, and silence opponents like Rep. Wamp. After all, when it comes to the budget, the facts are clear.

The president's budget:

1. Makes a $634 billion down payment on fixing health care - the first step in guaranteeing everyone equality, affordable health care.
2. Invests an additional $330 million in training nurses, doctors, and

dentists.
3. Reduces taxes for 95% of working Americans. And, if your family makes less than $250,000, your taxes won't go up one dime.
4. Stops unnecessary government subsidies to health insurance companies.
5. Negotiates for better prescription drug prices using Medicaid's tremendous bargaining power - saving taxpayers $19 billion dollars.
6. Introduces a new nurse home visitation program focused on helping at-risk young families.
7. Commits to double the funding for Cancer research.
8. Stops waste by reducing Medicare overpayments to private insurers through a competitive system based on the market.
9. Asks hospitals to make sure patients are ready for discharge to avoid unnecessary re-admissions.
10. Hospitals and doctors will be rewarded for delivering high quality care.

Earlier this week, we told you about the attacks being leveled against the provisions of the Economic Recovery Act that improve health IT and information sharing for doctors and hospitals. Since then, more than 2,600 letters have been written to newspaper editors across the country by caregivers who want to set the record straight.

Your efforts to uncover their misinformation campaign are gaining major traction in the mainstream media. MSNBC dug further into the smear tactics being used against health IT on last night's "Countdown with Keith Olbermann." No surprises here, the usual gang of suspects is at it again:

On this weekend's edition of MSNBC's Meet the Press, former Rep. David Bonior, a member of President-elect Barack Obama's economic transition team, talked about ways the next administration can help get the economy back on track. One proposal supported by President-elect Obama and 60 percent of the public is the Employee Free Choice Act, which will help employees bridge the gap of wage inequality in the country today.

Watch the video clip:

The New York Times recently made a similar point in its endorsement of the "swift passage" of the Employee Free Choice Act:

The measure is vital legislation and should not be postponed. By giving employees a bigger say in compensation issues, unions also help to establish corporate norms, the absence of which has contributed to unjustifiable disparities between executive pay and rank-and-file pay. There is a strong argument that the slack labor market of a recession actually makes unions all the more important.

Bonior echoed the same sentiment in a recent letter to incoming Wal-Mart CEO Mike Duke:

The time is ripe for a new Wal-Mart with an incoming President who has pledged to bring change to this country, ensure a fairer economic system for workers and business alike, reform health care, and restart our economic engine so that it works for all Americans. Here's to a New Year, a new Wal-Mart, and a new resolve for being part of the positive change that's coming.

(Transcript of segment below: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28605356/page/3/)

REP. BONIOR: Well, from my perspective we've got to get a hold of this inequality we have in this country today on, on wages and income, and this Bush tax cut piece is a, is a big part of that. The top--over the last 20 years, the top 10 percent took 90 percent of the income gains in this--in the country. And the top 1 percent took roughly 60 percent. And the top 1/10th of 1 percent took 35 percent of that. I mean, it's skewed the wrong way. And what we need to do is focus in on not only monetary policy and fiscal policy, as we have talked this morning, but we've also got to talk about where we want to end up.

MR. GREGORY: Mm-hmm.

REP. BONIOR: And the way we end up with helping actually people is to give them the chance to bargain collectively at the table. With 7 percent unionization in this country, you're not going to get the dispersion that you need. We were successful in this country--after the second World War, the three most profitable decades for working people. Shared prosperity occurred after the second World War because unionization was at 35 percent. The Employee Free Choice Act is an important piece of legislation that President-elect Obama and Biden support, the Congress supports, 60 percent of the American people support, and that will help share in the benefits and the bounties of the country.

President-elect Barack Obama's nominee for Secretary of Labor, Rep. Hilda Solis, will appear before a Senate committee this morning to confirm her appointment.

We'll be livestreaming her confirmation hearing here on SEIU.org. You can watch it here starting at 9:30am. (To start watching, click on "Windows Media Player" or "Real Player" next to the third orange CSPAN-3 logo.)

Few people are better suited to be America's advocate for working people than Rep. Hilda Solis, President-elect Barack Obama's choice for Secretary of Labor. The daughter of immigrant union members, Rep. Solis has spent her life fighting to make the American Dream available to all.

From her outspoken support of healthcare for all and a livable minimum wage, to her belief that employees need free choice at work, Rep. Solis understands the need for a bold new agenda for America's workers.

For Rep. Solis, serving as Secretary of Labor will not just be a job, but the culmination of a lifetime of action standing up for working people.

"Our members recognize there are many economic challenges that face our country. We believe there is now a once in a lifetime chance to finally address a strategic economic challenge that has been unsolved for too long and that is to solve our health care crisis," stated SEIU President Andy Stern at Wednesday's hearing before the Senate Finance Committee.

Pointing to the combined impact of the health care and economic crises on the lives of working families nationwide, Stern called on President-Elect Barack Obama and key leaders in Washington to work together to address the nation's ailing health care system in the short-term, saying, "This is an American problem. The time has come...it is within our reach."

Watch him address the Senate Committee on Finance: